A Chip on the Shoulder.

Have you at times look into a decision and ask yourself all the various obstacles and uncertainties that you faced, and as your heart palpitates and a sense of helplessness grips you and on the other hand, you look again, there is a a form of security and surety, though dull and uninspiring, at least there is a guarantee of basic live and survival- and then you walk that latter and well-trodden path?

There is no shame in choosing surety and stability over excitement, uncertainty and risk. Surely, we must live for even excitement and passion to survive in the first place right- and indeed that is the common wisdom.

But in choosing one of guaranteed outcomes, one loses the benefits of unintended consequences in choosing risk. They say a man with nothing to lose is indeed dangerous because faced with death- any other options seem more favourable than that. And therefore goes on a path of destruction and sometimes creation, in order to forge a path for himself- previously deemed impossible.

Indeed the road appears insurmountable but if surety is not an option then a risk or attempt at the impossible appears to be it's best bet. And beating the odds and even beaten by them appears to be no shame and if he does survive- infamy and authority normally follows. For he/she did what no person done before.

And therein lies the benefits of unintended consequences. In surety, we forgo our chance for creation for that of survival and stability. But when the heart palpitates and faced with a moment of truth, fear normally grips us. And it is normal. But when we pierce through the fear, one enter the realm of the unknown and that of creation.

Unintended consequences is not all positive. And there is a reason for fear in the first place.

Think about the experience of your first love. You were coming of age, you don't know what to say to your partner and would he/she like to do; and whether he/she likes you or not. But nonetheless, you went along with it.

Think about your first pay cheque. You had work very hard for this project and even when your pay was meagre, it was all the more satisfying and the skills you learnt, put you on your way now.

But in between, the passion and satisfaction, it was tinged with sadness, of confusion, frustration and sometimes helplessness. But somehow, when you look back, it seems to come together now.

Without your first love, you wouldn't know where the best restaurants, what flowers to get on what days and how to get around awkward situations. And without your first meagre pay cheque, you wouldn't know how to talk to strangers, you wouldn't know how to handle difficult bosses and colleagues and manage people and customers.

And all these are unintended consequences of which put you in a good stead and your intended consequence was to get the girl or to get the job done. At that point, you wouldn't think of these as unintended consequences but rather that as inconveniences, difficulties and even sadness- but in retrospect, what would happen if you didn't do it. It came together later because you tried earlier.

The older we get, the less we bother with trying. First marriage, then the mortgage, then the kids and lastly the whole list of other commitments related with the kids. And it is not without due cause that we chose the safe route because the risk escalates as we get older and with more commitments.

Therefore, I am rather surprised with many young people and kids burdening themselves with keeping a straight route and expectations.

When you are younger, it is your best time to experiment otherwise when you older, you nothing more than a grown-up kid. But of course, never experiment with things like drugs or fail your exams of which can screw up your future irreparably.

When I was younger, I tried quite a number things. Some healthy, some not quite so. I was not choir boy that was for sure, neither am I boy scout. I was not really that wholesome but neither did I anything irreversibly stupid as well.

But I am not sure why, I feel my life was much more enriching than some of my ex-straight A classmates but not as debauchery as some of my less than savoury friends.

I will always have a chip on my shoulder and I am glad for that. I will continue chipping it away until it is not advisable to do so but even then there would be other ways in doing so.

Cheers.

Goodnight.